Philip Klevestav of Blizzard Entertainment on designing built environments in video games

Philip Klevestav of Blizzard Entertainment on designing built environments in video games Philip Klevestav Share Share Facebook Twitter Pinterest WhatsApp Mail Or https://www.archdaily.com/938441/blizzard-entertainments-philip-klevestav-on-designing-built-environments-in-video-games Realistic images and presentations are now an integral part of project presentations. The designers use cutting-edge software and build precise 3D models to present their work as authentically as possible. As for the world of video games, it is not only about the quality of graphics or the precision of these graphics, but rather the immersive experience of visual designs and the way players communicate with the environment virtually. built. In an exclusive interview with ArchDaily, Philip Klevestav, principal artist at Blizzard Entertainment, the game development company known for Warcraft, Overwatch and Diablo, shares their ideas on video game designs and the influence of architecture on the design process. + 11 Philip Klevestav Dima Stouhi: How did you start your career? Related article From the backdrop to the projector: the importance of architecture in video game design Philip Klevestav: I have worked in the games industry as an environmental artist for about 15 years focusing on many different aspects of creating the environment, but most of my work is is always turned towards architecture. Some of the games I've worked on include: Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter, Bionic Commando, Syndicate, Natural Selection 2 and more recently Overwatch. Philip Klevestav PK: Since I was very young, I have been very fascinated by the way games are created. When I was around 11-12, I started trying to create my own levels for games that had free editors and tools included. At the time, it was difficult to find guides on how to use these tools, so many of them were only trial and error until I found out what worked. Meanwhile, making changes to existing games was popular, so I got involved in a lot of community projects for the game Half-Life. Many of these projects were never finished, but I learned a lot from working on them. By continuing to create my own levels and being part of hobby game projects, I have been able to build a portfolio over the years and I was finally hired by a game studio called Grin in Stockholm, Sweden , as Level Designer. After my first project there, I switched to an environmental artist role. Philip Klevestav DS: What has evolved in the visualization industry since the moment you started working in terms of demands? In terms of programs and tools?PK: The games have evolved enormously at the technical, visual and gameplay level. The tools have become much more accessible. There are tutorials, forums and wikis for almost everything you need to make a game now. At the same time, many things are much more complex to create than 15 years ago. Visually, I think with much more powerful hardware, you can just display a lot more on the screen with higher resolution than before and you can create larger open environments that you can browse. Personally, I think the most important visual improvement is how much more lighting has become in games. You can now simulate much more realistic lighting behavior in real time with indirect light bounce, more precise reflections and volumetric fog. And with real-time ray tracing becoming more viable, I can't wait to see how it will improve not only the appearance but the workflow of game creation in the future! Philip Klevestav DS: What is the process of developing architectural visualizations for games?PK: In games, we don't need to take on many challenges that architects have to consider such as sustainability, structural integrity, budget (not that way at least!), Etc. I would say that our biggest challenge is to design something appealing while maintaining engaging gameplay in space. In a game like Overwatch where the cards are based on actual locations, this can sometimes get very tricky. Before starting to work on a map, we gather a lot of references and try to discover a dominant and recognizable architecture for the region. The cultural reference is also very important: what type of food is popular here? What modes of transport stand out? Are there specific celebrations or festivals that are very local in this region? We take a lot of liberties with each location we make, but we always try to keep each location recognizable as much as possible and to add historic architecture wherever we can. One of the most important parts of Overwatch maps (and this goes for any fast paced first person multiplayer game) is that you need to be able to navigate through spaces and recognize exactly where you are at all times, so a lot of focus is put on to make sure that each area on the map has something that sets it apart from other areas. Sometimes it means crossing an older part of a city into a more modern or futuristic area. Sometimes this means going between the exterior and interior spaces to facilitate navigation and visual progression on a map. Color, material and lighting are great ways to distinguish the different parts of the cards. Philip Klevestav DS: On average, how long does it take to complete a project?PK: A regular Overwatch card generally takes around 3-4 months to complete on the art side. It depends a lot on the complexity and the size of the map. Smaller cards can be as short as 3-4 weeks and very complex cards can last more than 5 months. Philip Klevestav DS: Based on your experience and expertise, what do players focus most on in terms of visualizations?PK: In a fast PvP game (player versus player) like Overwatch, I think players will focus a lot on the readability of spaces. If we add too much visual noise and clutter, it becomes very difficult to navigate and see the other players, if there is not enough detail, it will be difficult to judge. It is important not to have too much contrast between the materials and not to add too many small details everywhere. I think a lot of different aspects come into play to make a space readable, such as the language of shapes, composition, materials, contrast, lighting, atmosphere and color. Having focus tests and seeing people playing the cards you are working on for the first time can be very helpful in helping to make the right choices where to improve the map visually, it also helps to see the areas you thought may be - to have been less worrying. noticeable when someone else plays. We tend to focus most of our visual interest at the player's eye level, we don't create static scenes where you only see an environment from a perfect shot, so things have to look interesting from all accessible angles. Philip Klevestav DS: How does a degree in architecture contribute to a career like yours?PK: As a person who does not have an architecture degree myself, I think it can be very useful to have people on the team who know and know the appropriate terminology. Especially when you are working on everything that is supposed to be placed in an actual location. It may be helpful in checking mental health for the elements you have created to adhere as much as possible to the architectural rules of the area you are trying to capture. It is also a great help to know how to configure spaces to give more meaning and keep the measurements and natural standards. I would say above all that having worked closely with a person with a degree in architecture, I have learned a lot from this person over the years and it has also helped me to be much more interested in architecture in general. Even if, just at a leisure level, I like to learn as much as I can about architecture, I think something that was particularly useful for me was Francis DK Chings Books: Architecture: form, space and order and dictionary architectural visual. In the end, when we work on games, we always have to think about gameplay, which means that many decisions become a compromise, so some things don't make architectural sense, but I think as long as the general idea appears, it's okay in a game. Philip Klevestav DS: What is your favorite card?PK: If in Overwatch I should say: Kings Row. If in any game I played, I would go with The Bad Place (DM4) in Quake 1.DS: If you had the ability to create something that would take architectural visualizations to the next level, what would it be?PK: In games, I hope to see more improvements in lighting technology, being able to work with a very precise lighting response in real time will improve the visual quality and the time required to build a scene. Even with today's powerful hardware, you have to make many compromises to be able to run a game at 60 frames per second in high resolution, especially if you target multiple platforms. Things like the quality of the shadow projection, the resolution of the indirect light, the quality of the reflection, etc. My hope is that these can all be part of the same solution in real time (like light and ray tracing reflections) where you really see everything you do in real time. For example, if you create a room with a window, the scene is instantly illuminated from the outside sky with a precise projection of soft shadows and precise reflections. I think being able to see that when you create a space will change your decisions, where you spend your time and how you set up your scene, what materials you use where and be able to light large spaces with fewer sources of light or only natural light. Philip Klevestav DS: What do you see for the future of architecture visualizations in games?PK: I think the material continues to improve, there will be even more freedom in the way of creating games. However, as you have more power to work, it will be more important than ever to think about how the spaces are laid out, how the buildings are linked to each other, how the lighting plays on architecture and, above all, to fight against the urge to overcrowd a scene with extreme details and contrasts simply because you have the means. With fewer technical constraints, it is very easy to go too far with details where they are not needed. This can be an impressive display of what can really be rendered in real time, but it often does not lead to a more pleasant overall picture. The artistic assets in games are sometimes worked in a vacuum while the relationships between the different structures and the natural terrain can be missed. You may have a great building design in itself, but how does it work in the context of its location in the environment? I think there are many lessons we can learn from urban planning and real-life architecture where these issues are a constant concern. I'm also very happy to see tools traditionally used for games like Unreal Engine starting to be used for real-time architectural visualizations and even movies and commercials. I think there can be a lot of mutual benefits across these different industries. picture credit